Category: Surya Daya News

Thank you so much for those of you who came out last night to our first monthly mindfulness meet up and relaxation session. It was a peaceful evening coming back to our breath, our hearts and in that process, back home. I apologize it wasn’t well posted! I realized last night it was on facebook but not on our website, sorry for any confusion. When I set next months date it will be found on our website and facebook page. All in the learning…….which ideally the learning never ends!

It was an honour holding space last night and I look forward to holding these circles into the future to support you in your meditation practice.

Please note the date for our Because You Matter workshop with Amber has changed to Saturday, April 27th, from 2:00 – 5:00 pm.

This beautiful afternoon honouring a woman’s body will have a strong focus on breast health and the interconnections of a woman’s body. Coming together in community as women sharing in a sacred yoga practice, discussing breast health and breast concerns, you’ll learn self care techniques and have the opportunity to deeply relax and recharge. We hope you can join us for a restorative and nourishing afternoon. Please let us know if you have any questions.

We are excited to have Simonne LaRonde, one of the members of our teaching family starting our next Wednesday night series starting next week (March 20th). She will be doing a series focusing on digestion and our organs of elimination. The foundation of these teachings will be rooted in the kundalini tradition as taught by Yogi Bhajan. This series will be suitable for beginners it will be a gentle kundalini practice, as well as those with an established practice to come back to the basics. Simonne brings a gentle heart to her teaching and is excited to share these tools and techniques with you to support your body to function optimally. Spring is an important time to cleanse and detoxify our bodies. Kundalini yoga is invaluable in helping us to move stagnation physically, energetically and emotionally. Staying with this focus on cleansing, lifting our energy after the winter months and releasing, in April we will be offering a Wednesday night series focused on the lymphatic system. Stay tuned for more details.

Our spring schedule will be posted soon, just finalizing a few details! It starts April 1st and runs through to the end of June. We are excited to be adding a new class to our new schedule. Our newest member of our teaching family, Vichardeep Kaur, will be offering a later Monday night Yin class, from 7:30 – 8:30 pm. Vichardeep has been teaching hatha, kundalini, yin, restorative and prenatal. She is a phenomenal teacher and we feel so blessed to welcome her into our community. Vichardeep is also a doula, and will be offering prenatal yoga series out of our space. Our first session will be on our calender later in May.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of your week! We still have space for our yoga and spiritual ecology workshop with Anna and Jessie later this month. Give us a call or send us an email if you’d like to register or have any questions.

We are grateful to each of you! Please remember what an amazing person you are. It takes courage to let your light shine, and we are so honoured to witness your journey!

When we know who we are, we can overcome our fears and insecurities. We surpass our smaller selves who suffer the slings and arrows of our conditioned reality, and we move to the unconditional truth of our larger selves. The answers to the questions of what to say, what to do, whom to let in, and whom to keep out become a clear and simple matter of listening to our hearts. That inner voice helps us align with our purpose, because each of us has a purpose, even if we judge it to be insignificant.

I’m writing this article in an attempt to help empower women in their bodies and educate our community about respecting and helping to fully care for a woman’s whole body. Statistics show that most women experience breast discomfort at some point in their lifetimes, and that the number of women that will report this pain to their primary care giver, or to anyone, is quite low…why? Perhaps because breasts don’t receive the proper attention as an important consideration in a woman’s overall care that they require. Breasts are often seen as a “taboo” topic, especially in our society where breasts are often sexualized rather than respected, which gives many women a decreased sense of confidence in voicing any concerns they may have about their breasts. I want to very gently remind you that your breasts matter, that you matter; every inch of your body matters and is deserving of care and attention.

Breasts are body tissues which are an incredibly important part of a woman’s anatomy. They feed and nurture life for our infants, have an extensive role in our lymphatic system and individualize our beautiful feminine bodies. When we look specifically at our breasts, they have a simple anatomical design and quite straightforward needs; however they are much too often neglected in the overall care of our bodies which can create pain, discomfort, lowered self-confidence and often fear.

Breasts don’t have muscles to facilitate movement; therefore they require aid to support ongoing circulation which helps to maintain tissue health and to prevent dis-ease and possible pain syndromes. Breasts are also susceptible to various changes including:

The menstrual cycle

The natural process of aging and associated changes

Menopause

Pregnancy (both during and after)

Breastfeeding

Dietary changes

Environmental stressors

These changes can often create discomfort through a woman’s entire lifespan.

Breasts can also undergo various surgeries, diagnostic procedures, trauma, as well as the diagnosis of both benign and malignant conditions. We can’t ignore the fact that breast cancer is also becoming more and more common for women in our society. It is vitally important for us to respect the needs of our breasts and to become more comfortable in caring for them and touching them in a healthy and therapeutic way. This can help women to recognize as well as to understand changes in their early stages.

What can you, as a women, do for yourself? It is important to take ownership of this very important part of you and to incorporate some daily self-care techniques into your regime, as well as gain education about:

Self-massage

Drainage techniques

Oils and creams to support your breast tissue

Contrast showers and dry brushing

Dietary support

Yoga and stretching specifically for your breasts.

Your breasts are a part of your body, a life nourishing part, that are as deserving of care as every other part of you; it’s never too early or too late to establish healthy breast practices.

Tomorrow morning (March 10th) I’ll be speaking at the Women’s Health and Wellness Conference in Perth creating a safe space for women to come together to talk about breast health, later in April, on the 13th, I’ll be facilitating an afternoon workshop at our studio focusing on breast health and the interconnections with your whole body wellness. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Written by Amber Young (Registered Massage Therapist, Yoga instructor and Breast Health Educator)

Please note the date for our Because You Matter workshop with Amber has changed to Saturday, April 27th.

This beautiful afternoon honouring a woman’s body will have a strong focus on breast health and the interconnections of a woman’s body. Amber brings a wealth of knowledge from 16 years in clinical practice focusing on breast health and women’s emotional health, as well she has been offering these workshops for the past 12 years. We hope you can join us for a restorative and nourishing afternoon. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Earlier this month Anna Karuna Egan led us through this workshop with her beautiful light, pure heart, and deep wisdom. We are honoured she is coming back to offer a second sacred afternoon with us in March. If you missed the opportunity, we hope you are able to join us at this next session. Please give us a call to reserve your space, the last session filled quite quickly.

We just wanted to let you know our Sunday morning Slow Flow Yoga with Ashley is cancelled for tomorrow morning, Sunday, February 24th. Another morning of freezing rain and inclement weather is in the forecast starting overnight. Enjoy a peaceful Sunday morning at home, take some time to gently move your body and deepen your breath, and we will see you at the studio soon! Namaste.

We will always try to post our teaching subs, however sometimes we’re unable due to last minute personal matters. Every teacher has incredible gifts and lessons for each of us – sometimes an unexpected teacher will wake us up in new ways. Thank you for your openness! Have an awesome day.

We want to thank all of you for your incredible gifts of donations, energy and time a few weeks back at our gentle yoga and gong relaxation class earlier this month. We held a special karma class for Hub Hospice, an amazing local organization that helps to support individuals with life threatening illness’s and the preparation for their death to be supported in their homes. Hub Hospice also provides support to the families and caregivers who assist in the care of their loved ones. Every life should be lived with dignity until the very last breath. So many of you came out to support this important cause and between community donations and our SEVA fund we raised $310 dollars for Hub Hospice. We want to extend a huge thank you to all of you in our community. The afternoon was especially powerful thanks to your openness. The photo’s attached to this post are from a special meditation we did in honor of those we’ve lost. These little hearts, combined with the hearts created at our Interval House fundraiser, will remain here wrapped in light and our prayers. If you would like to find out more about Hub Hospice you can find them at www.hubhospice.com

This past weekend we welcomed Anna Karuna Egan back to our space for a profound afternoon engaged in the exploration of meditation as self care. Anna also allowed us the opportunity to dive into Buddhist philosophy and lead us masterfully through some very beautiful practices. It was a truly sacred afternoon with a focus on opening the heart and nourishing ourselves in the simple awareness of our breath and our bodies. Anna reminded us of our impermanence in these beautiful human bodies, we are here for a brief time to experience the world in this form. Allow yourself the invitation to embrace your experience in all of it’s layers. Reach out to those who truly support you, breathe a little deeper, take time everyday for your practice – whatever practice resonates with your heart, explore and experience different ways of caring for yourself, and first and foremost be kind to yourself – it’s all a journey and an exploration – you deserve as much kindness and compassion as you so freely share with others. If you missed Anna’s workshop, she is offering this powerful afternoon in our space again in March. Contact the studio directly if you’d like to sign up for this second offering, space is limited and preregistration is necessary. She will be joining us Saturday, March 16th, from 2 – 5 pm, and the cost for the workshop is $55 (HST inclusive).

Somebody asked me about my vision, why I get up in the morning and do the work I do. My vision is a world where we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves and others, where things aren’t so complicated between our species, and where people are more comfortable and at ease in their bodies and their minds. If one person breathed a little deeper, found a moment of peace between their thoughts or moved with a little more comfort as a result of the work we do at the studio, then I know I have succeeded in this lifetime.